Gay Male Identity Research Articles

A Sense of Wonder: Samuel R. Delany, Race, Identity and Difference (review)

Reviewed by: A Sense of Wonder: Samuel R. Delany, Race, Identity and Difference Ikechukwu Okafor-Newsum A Sense of Wonder: Samuel R. Delany, Race, Identity and Difference By Jeffrey Allen TuckerMiddletown: Wesleyan UP, 2004. 344 pp. Jeffrey Allen Tucker's analysis of the writings of Samuel R. Delany reminds us that black identity politics is a narrative constructed to critique, resist, and transform the essentialized and subordinated blackness constructed by the essentialized whiteness of western modernist hegemony. According to Tucker, Delany's Hugo Award-winning memoir, The Motion of Light in Water (1988), "demonstrates not only the constructedness of identity but also what Robert Reid-Pharr calls 'the essentially permeable and thus impure nature of all American identities'" (3). The discourse of black identity politics emerged out of the social movement for racial justice and human rights. Historically, the movement for racial justice in the United States has marginalized black homosexuals as an act of image control and conformity within the conventions of American heterosexist masculinity. The transformative power of identity politics—to move in-between grand narratives as well as beyond them—thus became bracketed within the politics of race. In order to give moral and political legitimacy to the movement of racial uplift, this "bracketing" strategically excluded gay male identity, choosing rather to focus on the necessity to critique and resist the dominant hegemonic discourse of white supremacy. Tucker's analysis of Delany's writings suggests that the discourse of critique and resistance of early black identity politics merely substituted one (Eurocentric, sexualized) essentialized blackness for another. The antirace discourse of Black social movements challenged Eurocentric notions of race and critiqued prevailing notions of white (heterosexual) masculinity, which had at once sexualized and emasculated black men, but did not, in the end, challenge either the partriarchal or the heterocentric leanings of hegemonic masculinity. Black identity politics of the Civil Rights Era, as today, was dominated by an image controlling black officiati and the worldview of religious fundamentalism. There is no more room for Delany's fluid, black gay identity discourse today within "official" black identity politics than there was in the Western hegemonic discourse that it historically critiqued and resisted. This is how Tucker challenges prevailing critiques of Delany as being "anti identity politics." Tucker asserts that Delany's writing offers up multiple identities that are also black. As Delany himself notes: I am black. Therefore what I do is part of the definition, the reality, the evidence of blackness. [. . .I]f you're interested in the behavior of redheads, and you look at three and think you see one pattern, then you look at a fourth and see something that for some reason strikes you as different, you don't then decide that this person despite the color of his hair isn't really red-haired—not if you and yours have laid down for a hundred years the legal, social and practical codes by which you decide what hair is red and what hair isn't, and have inflicted untold deprivations, genocide and humiliations on those who have been so labeled by that code. (qtd. in Tucker 13) [End Page 153] Tucker prefers to see Delany's identity as "at once multiple and locatable" (3). As Tucker points out, Delany's quote above suggests a degree of race consciousness and awareness of the history and politics attached to race in America (14). Like Frederick Douglass, James Weldon Johnson, W. E. B. DuBois, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Delany is an antirace humanist. However, the antirace humanism of the nineteenth and twentieth century stays safely within the boundaries of heterocentrism. As a black gay-male science fiction writer who seeks to recover the social and sexual voices between the contesting master narratives of race, Delany removes the brackets around the transformative possibilities of black identity politics. In so doing, Delany is a part of and apart from this site of struggle. Jeffrey Allen Tucker's A Sense of Wonder is an honest discussion of the contradictions and limitations of black social movements around the question of sexuality. Tucker's lengthy analysis of the writings of Samuel R. Delany and the question of racial authenticity is an...

Excursion for Miracles: Paul Sanasardo, Donya Feuer and Studio for Dance (1955-1964) (review)

Reviewed by: Excursion for Miracles: Paul Sanasardo, Donya Feuer and Studio for Dance (1955-1964) Stacey Prickett Mark Franko , Excursion for Miracles: Paul Sanasardo, Donya Feuer and Studio for Dance (1955–1964), Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6744-2 Mark Franko's Excursion for Miracles focuses predominantly on Paul Sanasardo and Donya Feuer and their Studio for Dance in New York City, offering fresh insight into the emergence of American postmodern dance between 1955 to 1964. Although absent from the dance history canon, at least in the UK, their influence extends to the European avant-garde, exemplified by their former dancer Pina Bausch. Drawing on critical theory and ethnographic research from his time performing in Sanasardo's company, Franko aims to 'shift emphasis from Judson Dance Theatre as the only site of innovative choreography for that period' (xiv). Evocative readings of evening-length performances reveal diverse representational strategies out of which a new type of political voice emerged, divergent from the danced expressions of social consciousness of the 1930s and postmodern experiments of the 1960s. Excursion combines multiple methodological strands in historical recovery and analysis. Densely packed with photographs and extensive primary source material, the book moves back and forth chronologically and thematically, facilitating its use for undergraduate and postgraduate students. Chapter 1 [End Page 169] locates Sanasardo and Feuer within the larger dance community and detailsthe vibrant artistic environment of their studio. An evocative account of Laughter After All (1964) comprises Chapter 2, revealing a multi-disciplinary and highly theatrical collaboration, tracing the transformation of eclectic inspirational sources into surreal and at times maniacal actions, juxtaposing absurd and dark imagery. Deeply personal reflections are peppered throughout, taken from Franko's interviews with Sanasardo, Feuer and some of their dancers. Another aspect of Sanasardo and Feuer's legacy is seen in their unique work with children, explored in Chapter Three. In Dust for Sparrows (1958), a haunting duet with Feuer, ten-year-old Judith Blackstone tentatively walks downstage with her eyes shut, moving ever closer to the abyss beyond the stage. The young dancers who worked with the company appear as mature beyond their years, performing in roles which were uncharacteristic for their age. Parts of Chapter 4, 'Unexploded Bombs: Formal Reduction and the Libidinal Aesthetic', would be challenging for those uninitiated in the Frankfurt School of critical theory, Marxism and post-structuralism. A 'diagrammatic mapping' (p. 105) of three New York locales referenced in dances frames theoretical discourse on diverse political issues: the representation of women, expression of gay male identity, alienation and reification. The gems of historical research expand to consider Martha Graham's celebrity status and Paul Taylor's infamous Seven New Dances (1957). Franko clarifies the record in terms of Taylor's prescient use of an everyday gestural vocabulary seen in later postmodern dances. The last chapter, Five Theses and a Coda pulls together the multiple strands, followed by some of Sanasardo's essays and a chronology. Although their choreography has had minimal exposure, Franko's readings and contextualisation of Sanasardo's and Feuer's work situates them at the vanguard of an alternative postmodern aesthetic generally taught as emerging years later. Copyright © 2006 Society for Dance Research

We wear the mask: African American contemporary gay male identities

This study examines the various ways African American men identify themselves sexually. Many African American men practice same-sex relationships but do not identify themselves as bisexual, gay, or homosexual. A case study approach was used to analyze data gathered in Atlanta, Georgia using 110 male respondents. The researcher found that these men divide their identity because of multiple social factors. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that homophobia, heterosexism, and poor constructs of black manhood are the foremost reasons African American gay men cannot accept a gay identity.

An Appeal for Additional Research About the Development of Heterosexual Male Sexual Identity

Abstract For many heterosexual males, heterosexual male sexual identity is unmarked. That is, although it may motivate actions and behaviors (it is central), it does not appear to be cognitively available as an identity category (it is not salient). This contrasts with the marked sexual identity of most gay and bisexual males. By reviewing the scant research and theories about heterosexual male sexual identity development, and incorporating relevant studies of gay and bisexual male identity development, about masculinity, about puberty, and about general identity development, this article provides specific explanations for the unmarked nature of heterosexual male sexual identity and advocates for future research on this topic.

The Intention and Reflection Model

Increasing attention has been given to therapist self-disclosure (TSD) in light of the gay therapist's sexual orientation. Gay male therapist self-disclosure of sexual orientation is a reflection of identity management for this population. This paper describes the Intention and Reflection Model (IRM) of gay male therapeutic identity management, which focuses on three central topical areas: identity creation, preparatory identity management, and relational identity management. It also provides two case examples (gay and straight client) of IRM application in clinical practice.

Educating Gay Male Youth

SUMMARY In 2000, in the case of Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium, the Canadian Supreme Court was asked to determine whether gay male pornography violated the sex equality protections guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Throughout this case, gay male activists and academics emphasised the risk posed by antipornography legal strategies to the dissemination of materials intended to promote safer sexual behaviour. Other arguments were advanced that gay male pornography should not be restricted because it serves as a learning tool for young men and, in so doing, does much to reduce the alarming incidence of gay youth suicide. The author examines these assumptions within the context of the gay male pornography defended in Little Sisters. His conclusion is that the present gay male obsession with hyper-masculinity, best evidenced in the pornography now widely touted by some gay men as a source of gay male identity and freedom, undermines safer sexual practices and the self-respect needed to combat youth suicide. The author concludes that gay men must commit to a sexuality built on mutuality, respect and caring (i.e., an identity politic built around sex equality).

Lasse Kekki's <i>From Gay to Queer: Gay Male Identity in Selected Fiction by David Leavitt and in Tony Kushner's Play Angels in America I-II

Lasse Kekki's <i>From Gay to Queer: Gay Male Identity in Selected Fiction by David Leavitt and in Tony Kushner's Play Angels in America I-II

"Hell Witches in Toronto": Notes on Lesbian Visibility in Early-Twentieth-Century Canada

One of most persistent and pressing problems in research and writing of lesbian history in Canada, particularly for periods prior to World War Two, is presumed paucity of primary historical sources. What little we do know about early-twentieth-century lesbian history in Canada comes to us primarily through private letters, diaries, and memoirs of white, middle-class women. Some very significant discoveries have been made, including letters and autobiography of poet Elsa Gidlow in Montreal, journals of Constance Grey Swartz of British Columbia, and correspondence between Doctor Frieda Fraser and Edith Bickerton Williams in Toronto. These rich sources reveal inner thoughts and feelings of women attracted to other women, and they give us glimpses into early-twentieth-century bohemian milieux and professional ranks that could nourish same-sex relations among well-educated and well-travelled white women.' Still, those interested in recovering lesbian past often lament lack of sources like legal records relied upon by gay historians to reconstruct history of gay male identities and subcultures. Karen Duder, one of few to explore terrain of lesbian history in Canada prior to World War Two, explains that the dearth of information is hardly surprising given limited availability of lesbians' personal records and equally limited purview of state in area of lesbian ~exuality.~ But personal papers and state-generated documents are only two possible sources. In following research report, I want to draw attention to a small but significant cache of articles from early tabloid press that not only signals potential of print media in lesbian historical research but also calls into question some of our assumptions about lesbian history in pre-World War Two Canada. That early tabloid press might prove to be a useful source for earlytwentieth-century lesbian history makes a good deal of sense when we consider how invaluable tabloids (and, of course, oral histories) have been in recuperating postwar gayllesbian past in Canada.3 The tabloids reflect more general significance of print culture, from physique magazines to lesbian pulp novels and lesbian-themed stories of Chatelaine, in making of postwar gayllesbian subculture^.^ But if pulp novels, like rough working-class

They Dream Not of Angels but of Men; Homoeroticism, Gender, and Race in Latin American Autobiography

In a pioneering study of male homoeroticism and gay-male identity in Latin American autobiographical writings, Robert Ellis draws upon a diverse group of writers who situate the homoerotic in a variety of contexts, highlighting the ways in which not only male homoeroticism but also male homoerotic practice and gay-male identity are affected by Latin American conceptions of masculinity and femininity, race, and social class. The first book to take life-writings as a primary means for exploring the lives of homoerotically inclined and gay Latin American men, They Dream Not of Angels but of Men is also the first to look at the interrelationship of homoeroticism, gender, and race in Latin America. Each chapter is an intriguing study of a different way of reading the sexually oppressed within a wider social context, including slavery, immigration, imperialism, fascism and communism, and AIDS. Ellis breaks from traditional studies of gay men by showing how male homoeroticism can function as an expression both of resistance and oppression, especially through the dynamics of Latin American machismo. One of his important discoveries is that homosexuality in Latin America is constructed differently and is therefore experienced and known differently than in North America and Europe. Among the writers included are many whose voices were until recently silenced in their own culture and in academic studies of the area; they range from the late colonial period to twentieth-century Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, and Peru.

Queering Marriage

ABSTRACT Recent debates on same-sex marriage mark the institution, practice, and concept of marriage as a significant site of power and resistance within American culture. Adopting Michel Foucault's conception of “discipline,” this essay examines how marriage discourse reinforces heteronormative power relations through its rhetorical constitution of gay male identity. Supplementing “ideographic” critique with Judith Butler's theory of performative speech acts enables us to better interrogate and resist these operations of power. This essay maps the contemporary scene of heteronormative power and resistance through two rhetorical performances of gay male identity. The marriage debates, in the first instance, demonstrate how a conventional desire for masculine agency influences the heteronormative production of gay male identity. In the second instance, gay male SM [sadomasochism] performs a concept of “relational agency,” which potentially resists heteronormativity.

Models of gay male identity and the marketing of “gay language” in foreign-language phrasebooks for gay men

This paper examines two models that have been used in theoretical discussions of language and sexuality. The two models, the culture-based model and the desire-based model, view the gay community as formed through a shared culture or based solely on sexual desire. The impact of the models in works by Leap (1996) and Kulick (2000) is discussed, and the models are used to demonstrate competing views of gay language found in foreign-language phrasebooks intended for gay men. Strict adherence to either of these models masks the reality of “gay language” and impedes the progress of research into the relationships between language, gender and sexuality.

Lesbian and Gay Psychology: New Perspectives

List of contributors. Foreword: The Cutting Edges of Lesbian and Gay Psychology: Anthony R. Da Augelli, Pennsylvania State University. 1. Introducing Lesbian and Gay Psychology: Celia Kitzinger, University of York, and Adrian Coyle, University of Surrey. 2. Developmental Issues for Lesbian and Gay Youth: Ian Rivers, York St John College. 3. Girlsa Friendship and the Formation of Sexual Identities: Christine Griffin, University of Birmingham. 4. Coming Out as a Lesbian: Laura A. Markowe, south Bank University. 5. Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Fiona Tasker, Birkbeck College, University of London. 6. Resistance and Normalization in the Construction of Lesbian and Gay Families: A Discursive Analysis: Victoria Clark, Loughborough University. 7. Lesbian Health: Sue Wilkinson, Loughborough University. 8. Gay Mena s Physical and Emotional Well--Being: Re--Orienting research and Health Promotion: Ian Warwick and Peter Aggleton, both University of London. 9. Psychopathology and the Social and Historical Construction of Gay Male Identities: Gary Taylor, University of Sussex. 10. Lesbian and Gay Affirmative Psychotherapy: Defining the Domain: Martin Milton, University of Surrey, Adrian Coyle, University of Surrey, and Charles Legg, City University. 11. Family Therapy with Lesbian and Gay Clients: Maeve Malley, Birkbeck College, University of London, and Damian McCann, Edgware Community Hospital, London. 12. 'Ia ve Always Tolerated It but: Heterosexual Masculinity and the Discursive Reproduction of Homophobia: Brendan Gough, University of Leeds. 13. Student Support for Lesbian and Gay Human Rights: Findings from a Large--Scale Questionnaire Study: Sonja J. Ellis, Sheffield Hallam University. 14. Lesbian and Gay Awareness Training: Challenging Homophobia, Liberalism and Managing Stereotypes: Elizabeth Peel, Loughborough University.

Reinventing Privilege: The New (Gay) Man in Contemporary Popular Media

In recent years, the gay man/heterosexual woman couple configuration has become a genre unto itself in mediated popular culture, resulting in unprecedented mainstream visibility for gay men. Major mainstream films, such as My Best Friend's Wedding, Object of My Affection, and The Next Best Thing, showcase this combination as their centerpiece, as does the highly rated prime-time network situation comedy, Will & Grace. In this essay, I assess this particular performance of gay identity in order to discern what qualities render it – as presented in this configuration – not only acceptable but popular, given the heteronormative sensibilities that characterize the mainstream audience to which it is directed. I argue that, in these texts, homosexuality is not only recoded and normalized in these representations as consistent with privileged male heterosexuality but is articulated as extending heterosexual male privilege. In so doing, blatant sexism is reinvented and legitimized, and gay male identity simultaneously is defined by and renormalizes heteronormativity.

Lesbian and gay psychology: new perspectives

List of contributors. Foreword: The Cutting Edges of Lesbian and Gay Psychology: Anthony R. Da Augelli, Pennsylvania State University. 1. Introducing Lesbian and Gay Psychology: Celia Kitzinger, University of York, and Adrian Coyle, University of Surrey. 2. Developmental Issues for Lesbian and Gay Youth: Ian Rivers, York St John College. 3. Girlsa Friendship and the Formation of Sexual Identities: Christine Griffin, University of Birmingham. 4. Coming Out as a Lesbian: Laura A. Markowe, south Bank University. 5. Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Fiona Tasker, Birkbeck College, University of London. 6. Resistance and Normalization in the Construction of Lesbian and Gay Families: A Discursive Analysis: Victoria Clark, Loughborough University. 7. Lesbian Health: Sue Wilkinson, Loughborough University. 8. Gay Mena s Physical and Emotional Well--Being: Re--Orienting research and Health Promotion: Ian Warwick and Peter Aggleton, both University of London. 9. Psychopathology and the Social and Historical Construction of Gay Male Identities: Gary Taylor, University of Sussex. 10. Lesbian and Gay Affirmative Psychotherapy: Defining the Domain: Martin Milton, University of Surrey, Adrian Coyle, University of Surrey, and Charles Legg, City University. 11. Family Therapy with Lesbian and Gay Clients: Maeve Malley, Birkbeck College, University of London, and Damian McCann, Edgware Community Hospital, London. 12. 'Ia ve Always Tolerated It but: Heterosexual Masculinity and the Discursive Reproduction of Homophobia: Brendan Gough, University of Leeds. 13. Student Support for Lesbian and Gay Human Rights: Findings from a Large--Scale Questionnaire Study: Sonja J. Ellis, Sheffield Hallam University. 14. Lesbian and Gay Awareness Training: Challenging Homophobia, Liberalism and Managing Stereotypes: Elizabeth Peel, Loughborough University.

Bent passions: Heterosexual masculinity, pornography, and gay male identity

Gay male pornography, as an expression of gay male sexuality, identity and desire requires a set of assumptions and questions different than those used in interrogating heterosexual pornography. Drawing upon Linda Williams’ argument that heterosexual pornography creates utopias of sexual abundance, this paper examines the manner in which gay male pornography likewise creates sexual utopias that both express gay male desire but which also, at the same time, attempt to confront and resolve the conflict between such desire and the overarching dominant heterosexual sex system.

Black gay man: essays

At turns autobiographical, political, literary, erotic, and humorous, Black Gay Man will spoil our preconceived notions of not only what it means to be black, gay and male but also what it means to be a contemporary intellectual. Both a celebration of black gay male identity as well as a powerful critique of the structures that allow for the production of that identity, Black Gay Man introduces the eloquent new voice of Robert Reid-Pharr in cultural criticism. At once erudite and readable, the range of topics and positions taken up in Black Gay Man reflect the complexity of American life itself. Treating subjects as diverse as the Million Man March, interracial sex, anti-Semitism, turn of the century American intellectualism as well as literary and cultural figures ranging from Essex Hemphill and Audre Lorde to W.E.B. DuBois, Frantz Fanon and James Baldwin, Black Gay Man is a bold and nuanced attempt to question prevailing ideas about community, desire, politics and culture. Moving beyond critique, Reid-Pharr also pronounces upon the promises of a new America. With the publication of Black Gay Man, Robert Reid-Pharr is sure to take his place as one of this country's most exciting and challenging left intellectuals.

Family support and acceptance, gay male identity formation, and psychological adjustment: a path model.

While heterosexist family undermining has been demonstrated to be a developmental risk factor in the life of persons with same-gender orientation, the issue of protective family factors is both controversial and relatively neglected. In this study of Israeli gay males (N = 114), we focused on the interrelations of family support, family acceptance and family knowledge of gay orientation, and gay male identity formation, and their effects on mental health and self-esteem. A path model was proposed based on the hypotheses that family support, family acceptance, family knowledge, and gay identity formation have an impact on psychological adjustment, and that family support has an effect on gay identity formation that is mediated by family acceptance. The assessment of gay identity formation was based on an established stage model that was streamlined for cross-cultural practice by defining three basic processes of same-gender identity formation: self-definition, self-acceptance, and disclosure (Elizur & Mintzer, 2001). The testing of our conceptual path model demonstrated an excellent fit with the data. An alternative model that hypothesized effects of gay male identity on family acceptance and family knowledge did not fit the data. Interpreting these results, we propose that the main effect of family support/acceptance on gay identity is related to the process of disclosure, and that both general family support and family acceptance of same-gender orientation play a significant role in the psychological adjustment of gay men.

A framework for the formation of gay male identity: processes associated with adult attachment style and support from family and friends.

We propose a novel conceptual framework for the study of gay male identity formation in relation to the person's self, family, and social relations. The three basic processes of gay male identity are defined--self-definition, self-acceptance, and disclosure--and theoretically linked to attachment style and social support. The results, based on an Israeli sample of gay men (n = 121), indicated that self-acceptance and friends' support predict secure attachment in close adult relationships, and that self-definition and support from family and friends predict disclosure. Supportive family attitudes toward same-sex orientation mediated the effect of general family support on disclosure. These results suggest that the independent assessment of identity processes provides a flexible alternative to stage models' assumption of a single linear developmental process, that the formation of gay identity is associated with inner models of adult relationships, and that support of family and friends have a different role in the coming out process and in the formation of one's adult attachment model.

'Far out man?' gay and bisexual male teachers in the higher education marketplace

As part of a broader study of masculinity in higher education this paper considers the experiences of gay and bisexual male teachers. It examines the ways in which gay and bisexual men construct and manage their identities within a shifting higher education context in which 'new managerialist' discourses appear to be replacing discourses of equity. Gay and bisexual men are variously positioned in relation to the new managerialism. As men they are implicated in the masculinist tendency of market and managerialistic initiatives yet as gay/bisexual men they seem to have much to lose from the implicit political project of the market and the moral shift it signifies. The situation is further complicated in that for some gay and bisexual men new managerialism may offer progressive possibilities in its transformation of the old elitist and exclusive culture of traditional higher education. Through the analysis of in-depth interviews, the paper considers the relationship between gay and bisexual male teachers identity work and the transformative processes and practices within which they are embedded. In particular the paper attempts to understand the men's cultural stances in relation to a notion of an inclusive higher education based on democratic pluralistic values.

Homosexuality in Cold War America: resistance and the crisis of masculinity

Challenging widely held assumptions about postwar gay male culture and politics, Homosexuality in Cold War America examines how gay men in the 1950s resisted pressures to remain in the closet. Robert J. Corber argues that a form of gay male identity emerged in the 1950s that simultaneously drew on and transcended left-wing opposition to the Cold War cultural and political consensus. Combining readings of novels, plays, and films of the period with historical research into the national security state, the growth of the suburbs, and postwar consumer culture, Corber examines how gay men resisted the organization man model of masculinity that rose to dominance in the wake of World War II. By exploring the representation of gay men in film noir, Corber suggests that even as this Hollywood genre reinforced homophobic stereotypes, it legitimized the gay male gaze. He emphasizes how film noir’s introduction of homosexual characters countered the national project to render gay men invisible, and marked a deep subversion of the Cold War mentality. Corber then considers the work of gay male writers Tennessee Williams, Gore Vidal, and James Baldwin, demonstrating how these authors declined to represent homosexuality as a discrete subculture and instead promoted a model of political solidarity rooted in the shared experience of oppression. Homosexuality in Cold War America reveals that the ideological critique of the dominant culture made by gay male authors of the 1950s laid the foundation for the gay liberation movement of the following decade.